No. 25 March 2006
SELECTBOARD NOTES
Road Weight Limits
Weight limits for town roads will be posted effective March 1, restricting
vehicles which may access those roads with the exception of emergency vehicles.
Other overweight vehicles may obtain access by permission from Road Foreman,
Doug Stone, 785-4679.
Town Plan Review
The Selectboard is revising the draft of the 1999 Town Plan for review by the
Town's Planning Commission. The Planning Commission will review the draft and
make any recommendations to the Selectboard. The Selectboard will hold two
final hearings before adopting the plan. Draft copies of the plan will be
available for review at Town Meeting.
Planning Commission and Development
Review Board
The Selectboard has voted to separate the current Planning Commission and
Zoning Board of Adjustment due to the volume of their responsibilities. The two
new boards will be a separate Planning Commission and a separate Development
Review Board. Each board is seeking new members. If you are interested, please
submit a letter of interest to the Selectboard at Town Hall.
DIVERSITY BOOK GROUP
Next meeting of the Diversity Book Group will be on Monday, March 13 at 6:30pm when we will be discussing Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain.
Future Meeting:
Monday, April 24: 6:30 pm
Book: A.J. Verdelle, The Good Negress
Copies of
Submitted by Jo Ann Woodsum
TOWN CLERK NOTES
Deadline
to Request Absentee Australian Ballots:
(for yourself, or on behalf of another voter)
March 6, 2006 until 5 pm
Town offices open special hours - 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Annual Town & School Meeting
March 4, 2006 at 9:00 a.m.
Anderson Hall, Thetford Academy
Australian Ballot Budget Vote
March 7, 2006
Town Hall
Polls open 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
LATHAM LIBRARY
Tired
of winter? Looking for something new to read? Come to the Latham
Library Mud Season Book
This annual event offers a large variety of paperback, hardcover and rare books
too in fiction and nonfiction. Children's books too.
Please come browse the sale in the basement of the library during these hours:
Friday March 10th - 2:00-5:00 pm
Saturday March 11th - 10:00 am-1:00 pm
Monday March 13th - 2:00-6:00 pm
Submitted By Lisa Ladd
VT EARTH INSTITUTE COURSE
Vermont Earth Institute is offering "Globalization and
Its Critics", a nine session, free course at the Latham Library,
beginning Monday, March 6 at 7pm.
This session's purpose is 3-fold:
* To understand the institutions, processes and effects of globalization
* To examine how personal choices affect globalization
* To explore a variety of possible visions and how they
can be cultivated
Come join the group and have a lively discussion on how globalization is
affecting the environment, local economics and social and cultural customs
throughout the world.
Call Nan Crowell at 785-3014 for information.
Old Fashioned Chowder
Supper
Please mark your calendars for SATURDAY, MARCH 11, for a
chowder supper at the
Dinner served from 5:30pm on…
Take-outs will also be available by reservation (call 785-4417, leave name, phone number and how many dinners you'd like).
Questions? Call Rebecca at 785-4417.
Submitted by Barbara Condict and Rebecca Buchanan
THETFORD
ENERGY COMMITTEE CFL
The Thetford Energy Committee will once again be selling high performance,
energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) at town meeting. These
bulbs use 1/4 the energy and last 8 times longer than comparable incandescent
bulbs, and they will save you $43 to $72 in electricity over the life of the
bulbs. We will be selling Harmony15 and 25 Watt spiral CFLs - equivalent
light to 60 and 100 Watt incandescents. The bulbs will cost residents $3
each, after the $2 instant coupon from Efficiency Vermont.
Submitted
by Bob Walker
TA NOTES
Once again, on Saturday March 4,
The One-Act Play
this year will be "Somebody Got Murdered," an original work by
students Sam Chapin and Ben LaRoche. Performances open to the community
will be March 14 and 15 at 7:30pm in the SharkTank Theater. Please
join the discussion forums each evening to help the cast and crew prepare
for regional competition in the Vermont Drama Festival on March
17 and 18 in
"Bubble, bubble; toil and. . ." The annual Science Fair will be held on Thursday, March 23, at 7pm in the science classrooms and Anderson Hall. Students will be present to give hands on presentations and explanations of their varied research discoveries this year.
Music! Dancing! Good Times! Family Fun! Join the party at TA on Friday, March 24, for the annual International Dance, from 7:30-10:00pm. Bring the family and have a good time. A modest donation benefits TA students traveling far and abroad this year!
TA's eighth graders will spend Wednesday, March 29, out in Thetford and surrounding communities as part of Grade 8 Job Shadowing Day. Please call TA at 785-4805 if you'd like to be part of this learning experience.
Submitted by Wendy Cole
PTO BOX TOPS
Box Tops for Education - A great way to help our school!
The Box Tops for Education program earns cash for
How to participate:
1) Simply clip Box Tops coupons from participating General Mills products (a sign listing these products will be put up at the recycling center). Some well known brands include General Mills cereals like Cheerios and Chex, Betty Crocker baking mixes and Pillsbury products.
2) Bring the coupons to the Thetford recycling center or the TES lobby.
Twice each school year the TES Parent Teacher Organization sends the Box Tops to General Mills. Then they send a check to the PTO.
It’s as simple as
that!
Last year the money from Box Tops enabled us to bring “Dr. Quentin Quark” to the school. This was a fun and educational evening of science enjoyed by all.
Please take the time to check for and cut out Box Tops. It’s an easy way to contribute money to the school and Box Tops money really makes a difference.
Submitted By Thetford Elementary School PTO
Cheryl Twerdowsky – Cheryl_Twerdowsky@yahoo.com
CONSERVATION COMMISSION NOTES
Don't
buy that plant....
...without reading further!
Over the years I have noticed, at first with indifference but lately with
alarm, the steady march of honeysuckle up
Honeysuckle is just one example of group of non-native plants that are now
known as 'invasives.' Although to many folks a plant is a plant, those
who are concerned with the long-term health of our native flora and fauna view
these species as a serious menace. Invasive plants are non-native
introductions that out-grow and out-compete our native plants. They are
characterized by profuse seeds, effective dispersal, easy and rapid germination
and growth and aggressive competition with other plants. In the case of
water plants such as the infamous milfoil, they can grow from a plant
fragment. Since the parasites or insects that feed on them in their
countries of origin do not exist in the
The introduction of exotic plants is nothing new, it started with the first
European pioneers who brought seeds of crops and grasses with them. It is
startling to discover that 30 % of
For many gardeners, this is the season when there is little to satisfy the
gardening urge except to pore over alluring plant catalogs that flood the
mailbox. The list below should help us to NOT inadvertently
introduce another invasive plant. We should consider that in many states
even 'conservation lands' are heavily overgrown with invasives, so much so that
the cost of removal is prohibitive. This makes a mockery of conservation, since
the plant assemblies no longer represent the natural biodiversity that was to
be conserved. In relatively rural areas, like Thetford, the problem of
invasives is just beginning, as evidenced by ubiquitous roadside honeysuckle
and groves of Japanese Knotweed in our conserved
List of worst invasives in the Northeast:
Invasive trees:
Norway Maple (Acer plantanoides), Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)
Invasive shrubs:
Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus), Common buckthorn (Frangula alnus), Glossy Buckthorn
(Rhamnus frangula), Autumn Olive (Elaeathnus umbellata), Russian Olive
(Elaeathnus augustifolia), Shrub Honeysuckle (Lonicera mackii, Lonicera
morrowii, Lonicera tatanica, Lonicera X bella), Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera
japonica), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), Korean Barberry (Berberis
koreana), Common Barverry (Berberis vulgaris), Multiflora rose (Rosa
multiflora).
Invasive Perennials:
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum
cuspidatum), Fallopia japonica var.) Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus).
Invasive Vines:
Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), Japanese Wisteria (Wisteria
floribunda).
Invasive Ground Covers:
English Ivy (Hedera helix), Goutweed (Aegiopodium podagraria).
For more information, the New England Wildflower Society has extensive
literature on non-invasive alternatives:
http://www.newfs.org/FAQ/FAQ8INV.htm
Submitted by Li Shen
Thetford Conservation Commission
SCHOOL BOARD UPDATE
School Strategic Plan
The Thetford School Strategic Planning Committee has begun work on a long-range vision and plan for the school. Now that the committee has been formed, with guidance from an outside consultant, we will be holding some combination of focus groups, surveys, forum, or other outreach in March and April. Our 9-member committee will be actively soliciting feedback from parents, teachers/staff, volunteer groups, students, the Academy, and the greater community before drafting a recommended plan to the School Board by the end of the school year. The feedback may take different forms for different groups. If you are interested in providing high-level, vision-level ideas for the direction of the school and cannot take part in the group feedback once announced, feel free to drop an email to Darrin Clement (dclement@maponics.com).
TES SHAKESPEARE PLAY
SAVE THE DATE! The annual Shakespeare play, put on by the
Submitted by Pam Kneisel
The deadline for submissions is the 20th of each month. Send news including contact name and telephone number to Cathee Clement at 785-2668 or turtlepond@netzero.net.
Please list Thetford Town Newsletter in the subject line.